Ball grinding machine



June 26, 1934.

G. F. MATTESON 1,964,165

BALL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet l June 26, 1934. MATTESON 1,964,165

BALL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 1934. e. F. MATTESON BALL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29. 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 ail-i ill U Ml ,47 TG/P/YE) June 26, 1934. MATTESQN 1,964,165

BALL GRINDING MACHINE June 26, 1934. MATTESON 1,964,165

BALL GRINDING MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1929 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 1/ N TOP /0 MW l W OANE'Y Patented June 26, 1934 N i it E S T BALL GRINDING MACHINE George Franklyn Matteson, Rockyhill, Oonn., assignor to The Abbott Ball Company, Elmwcod, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application January 29, 1929, Serial No. 335,790

9 Claims.

My invention relates to the class of machines that are used to form articles more especially to spherical shape, the machine being particularly applicable to the formation of metallic balls, although it will be understood that it is not limited to such, and an object of my invention, among others, is the production of a machine of this class that shall be simple in construction and particulariy efficient in operation.

One form of a machine embodying my invention and in the construction and use of which the objects herein set out, as well as others, may be attained, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a machine embodying my invention, with parts broken away to show construction.

Figure 2 is a top view of the same, with parts broken away.

Figure 3 is an end view with parts broken away.

Figure 4 is a detail view, scale enlarged, of a portion of the machine in cross section on a plane denoted by the dotted line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a view in lengthwise vertical section on a plane passing through the axis of the grinding discs.

Figure 6 is a detail view, scale enlarged, in section through a portion of the machine showing the arrangement of the bearings for the rotatable grinding discs.

Figure 7 is a detail view, scale enlarged and on a plane denoted by the dotted line 'l'7 of Fig. 5, illustrating the feeding devices for balls to the grinding discs, parts being broken away to show construction.

Figure 8 is a detail View, scale enlarged, on a plane denoted by the dotted line 8-8 of Fig. 9, and illustrating the tensioning device.

Figure 9 is a view of the same looking from a point atright angles to the point of View of Figure 8, and with parts broken away to show construction.

Figure 10 is a detail View of the rear end of the machine illustrat ng the position of the members during a grinding operation.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 9 indicates supporting frames that may be composed of any suitable material and formed in any desired shape, as herein shown one of these frames being located at each end of the machine and each frame having legs 10 at each end thereof and also cross bars near the bottom and at the top for strengthening purposes.

A grinding frame rests upon the supporting frames, extending from one to the other, at one side thereof, this grinding frame including a bearing 11 at one end to support a driving shaft 12 that may be driven as by means of a pulley 13 secured at the end of the shaft. This shaft is supported at one end by a ball bearing 14 within a shouldered opening at one end of the bearing 11. The shaft 12 is reduced at this end and a supporting disc 15 is secured to this reduced and pref erably threaded end. The disc has an annular groove 16 on one side and within a hub forming part of the disc, and a dust guard 1'? located in said groove projects into contact with and partially surrounds the ball bearing 14. This dust guard is preferably a metal ring shouldered on its inner surface to fit the bearing 14 and having a series of grooves on its outer surface and another series on its inner surface within which grooves protecting rings 18 of fibrous material are located to prevent the entrance of dust and grit to the bearing 14. A fastening plate 19 is secured to the front face of the disc 15 and has an undercut lip or groove within which the beveled end of a grinder 20 is secured as by means of a filling 21 of lead or other suitable material. The lower edge of the grinder is located in a well 22 in the grinder frame and the top of this well is covered by a removable cap 23.

The grinder frame also includes a housing 24 located opposite and in line with the bearing 11, this housing opening into the chamber formed by the well 22 and cap 23. A stationary grinder support 25 located within the housing 24 projects therefrom into the chamber 26 heretofore mentioned as formed by the well 22 and cap 23 and as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. A supporting plate 27 for a stationary grinder 28 is secured to the end of the support 25, the grinder 28 being secured to the plate in any suitable manner and said plate being secured to the end of the support as by means of interengaging screw threaded parts. A dust guard 29 may be employed to prevent the entrance of dust and dirt into the housing 24.

The support 25 is in the form of a barrel with a spring seat 30 located in the bottom thereof and a cushioning spring 31 pressed at one end against said seat and at its opposite end against a tensioning seat 32 fitted to slide within the barrel but held against rotation therein. A tensioning bar in the form of a sleeve 33 screw threadedly engages a hole through the seat 32 and by rotating said sleeve the tension of the spring 31 may be regulated to balance a weight and weight levers in a manner to be hereinafter described.

As a suitable means for rotating the sleeve 33 I have provided a ratchet and pawl device. This comprises a head 34 rotatably mounted on the sleeve 33 and having a notch within which a toothed block 35 mounted on and secured to the sleeve is located. Pawls 36 are pivotally mounted in the head 34 in position to engage the teeth of the block 35 on opposite sides of a plane passing vertically through the center of the head. These pawls each have tails 37 pressed apart by a spring 38 and engageable with a cam lip 39 on a pawl actuating collar 40 and operable thereby in a manner that will be readily understood.

The head 34 is located at the end of a handle 41 by means of which the tensioning device may be operated. When the collar 40 is turned in one direction to engage the lip 39 with the tail of one of the pawls a swinging movement of the handle will rotate the sleeve 33 in one direction, and by turning the collar 40 in the opposite direction to engage the lip with the tail of the other pawl the sleeve 33 will be turned in the opposite direction by a swinging movement of said handle, one of these movements of the sleeve increasing the tension of the-spring and the other movement lessening said tension. The lip 39 is so formed that it may be placed to engage the tail of neither pawl, and when so positioned swinging movement of the handle 41 will not be effective upon the sleeve 33.

The adjacent faces of the movable grinder 20 and stationary grinder 28 have registering grooves to receive the articles to be shaped by rotation of the grinder 20,. and the grinder 28 is forced toward the grinder 20 in a manner now to be described and with a pressure predetermined by adjustment of the weight and levers hereinbefore mentioned when balanced by the spring 31 as hereinbefore referred to and depending upon the tension of the'spring 31 hereinab'ove set forth.

A presser lever 42 is pivotally mounted within a cage 43 secured to the end of the housing 24, and as shown in Figure 5 of the drawings. This lever projects without the housing to quite an extent and at its lower end it is connected by a link 44 with one arm of a bell crank lever 45, the other arm of said bell crank being connected by a link 46 with a weight supporting lever 47. This lever 47 comprises a shaft supported in a bearing on the grinder frame, as shown in Fig. 3, and an arm projecting from each end of the shaft, the

shorter of said' arms being attached to the link 46' as just described. The bell crank lever 45 is preferably pivotally mounted within the frame 9. A weight 48 is suspended from the outer end of the 4 other and longer arm of said weight supporting.

lever 47, and it will be noted that this provides a system of compound levers comprising a plurality of levers all of which are so arranged that the force exerted by the weight alone is greatly multiplied, and an exceedingly great pressure of the grinder 28 against the grinder 20 is obtained. The lever 42 has an opening near its pivot and lugs formed on the lever on opposite sides of saidopening push against a thrust bearing seated against a reduced end of the sleeve 33 and as shown in Figs. l5 and 9 of the drawings.

In order that the distance between the grinders 20 and 28 may be varied and, further, in order to compensate for Wear between the grinders occasioned by the grinding operation I have provided the following mechanism:

A grinder positioning rod 49 is secured at one end within a hub comprising the end of the support 25 and projects through the spring seat 30, the tensioning sleeve 33, the opening in the upper end of the lever 42 and engages with its threaded outer end within a threaded hole in a positioning sleeve 50 loosely attached to the cage 43 by a plate 51 fastened to the inner surface of the end of the cage. The sleeve 50 has a groove within which said plate loosely engages and said sleeve projects outwardly through a hole in the end of the cage. The sleeve has a flange 52 between which and the end of the cage a ball bearing 53 may be located. Beyond the flange 52 the end of the sleeve is received within the hub of a positioning wheel 54 which is keyed to said sleeve. This wheel has a positioning ring comprising two members, one member 55 being secured to the arms of the wheel and the other and graduated member being rotatably attached to its supporting member 55 for use of the graduations in connection with an index to determine the amount of space between the grinders, means being provided for securing the movable members when placed in adjusted positions.

From this it will be noted that rotation of the wheel 54, will impart lengthwise movement to the rod 49 and consequently to the grinder support 25 and the grinder 28 mounted thereon, and that the amount of movement of the latter may be readily determined.

The spring 31 is a cushioning spring for the grinder member 28, said spring being adapted to yield and permit movement of the grinder member 28 away from the member 20 should any enlarged object be introduced between the grinders, or should any obstruction take place between them. In such an event, the yielding of the grinder 28 will prevent injury to the machine. In order to transmit the full force of the weight 48 to the grinders the spring 31 is of such strength that it may be tensioned to take the maximum force of the weight 48.

In adjusting the parts for the proper operation of the grinders, should the tension of the spring 31 be insvficient to transmit the force of the weight 48, the handle 41 and ratchet and pawl mechanism is made use of to rotate the tensioning sleeve 33 and thereby move the tensioning seat 32 inwardly to compress the spring. When, in this movement, the tension of the spring becomes equal to the force of the weight 48, the turning movement of the sleeve 33, instead of moving the member 32 inwardly will move the sleeve 33 outwardly, and this movement effected by the ratchet and pawl mechanism may be continued until the weight 48 is raised to the desired extent.

The grinder member 28 having been spaced the proper distance from the member 20 to admit the articles to be formed between said members, which positioning may be done by the aid of the graduations on the rings 55, the wheel 54 may be rotated to back the sleeve 50 away from the cage 43 a distance equal to the amount of reduction to be made in the articles. In the reducing operation the grinder 28 will be moved forward, carrying the rod 49 and sleeve 50 until movement is stopped by the bearing 53, at which time all of the articles will have been properly reduced. This will end the reducing operation.

An opening 56 in plate 2'7 and stationary grinder 28 provides for the admission of articles, as balls 57, from a way 58 leading from a feed device comprising a rotatably mounted feeding member 59 located within a case 60. The way is provided with grooves or paths 61 preferably of the same number as the grooves or paths in the grinders 20 and 28. The way 58 is of such length and the paths and grooves therein are consequently of such length and they are so curved that the speed of travel of the balls when they reach the grinder will be substantially that of the speed of the path or groove in the grinder to which said balls are delivered. That is, the curves of each groove or path are so positioned relatively to the curves in other paths, and the radii of such curves are relatively such that the balls traveling along the path or groove leading to the inner groove of the grinder will travel at a slightly less rate of speed when they reach the grinder than that of the balls in the next groove, and the balls in the latter will travel at a slightly less rate than that of the balls in the next succeeding groove, and so on to the opposite side of the way, this rate of speed of the balls in each way, therefore, being graduated to the different rates of speed of the grooves in the grinder, each of which travels faster than does the groove nearer the center of such grinder.

The speed of the grinder is determined by the speed of the balls in the central path, and the curves of the paths leading balls to the outer grooves of the grinder are such as to give added velocity of the balls as they approach the periphery and lesser velocities as they approach the axis of the grinders. Thus the balls reach the grinders at each path while traveling at substantially the speed of the path to which they are delivered.

The feeding member 59 rests upon rollers 62 arranged in pairs with said member depending slightly between the pairs. Each pair of rollers is secured to a shaft having a worm gear 53 secured at its outer end, these worm gears each meshing with a worm secured to a drive shaft 65 having a driving pulley 66 at its outer end.

The worms 64 are of considerable length so that the worm wheels may mesh with them in different positions when the feeding device carrying said wheels is placed in different positions as occasion may require and as hereinafter explained.

In order to provide for repeated operations by the grinder upon the balls, or merely for the removal of the balls from the grinder, a scoop 6'7 is positioned with one edge in the path of movement of the balls whereby such balls are scooped up and delivered to the feeding member 59, as shown in Fig. '7 of the drawings. The balls are delivered from the pockets in the member 59 to a tiltable table (not herein specifically shown) which table delivers the balls to the way 58 and which when tilted will deliver the balls to a discharge tube 68. A fuller and more detailed description of this feeding apparatus is omitted herein as it forms the subject matter of a co-pending application filed by me December 26, 1928, of serial Number 327,376, to which reference is hereby made for a more complete description, if one shall desire an understanding of such.

The feeding device as a whole is movably mounted, either to automatically adjust its position to suit varying conditions as to sizes of balls being operated upon, wear of grinders or otherwise,

' or to permit it to be moved to one side topermit ready access to the grinders. To this end the case 60 is mounted upon rollers 69 mounted on rails '70 secured to the bed 71 of the feeding device, which bed extends across the space between the supporting frames 9, resting upon the top edges of such frames. The feeding device is movably connected with the grinder by means of a ridge '72 having a groove in its under surface within which ball bearings 73 are located, to provide free movement of the ridge along a lip '74 extending along one side of the grinder frame, and as shown in Figures 2 and '7 of the drawings, said lip engaging within said groove.

The lower end of the way 58, at that part where the balls immerge, extends through the openings in the plate 27 and grinder 28 substantially to the grooved face of the latter. In order that this end of the way may be moved back as the grinder wears away, the lower end of the way is adjustably secured in place as by means of a flange 75 having slots to receive bolts '76 that extend into a block '77 bolted to the face of the plate 2'? as by means of bolts '78 extending through a re-' taining' plate 79, through said block and into the plate 27. The plate 79 projects into the space between two adjusting bolts 80 secured in lugs 81 rising from the ridge 72, and as shown in Figures 2 and a of the drawings. To adjust the parts the bolts 76 are loosened and then by means of the wheel 54 the grinder 28 is moved to the position desired, this independently of the way 58. The screws 86, which had been loosened for this adjusting operation, are now employed to position the feeding device and consequently the way 58 carried thereby.

I claim:-

1. A ball forming machine including two forming members, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a support for said movable memher, a spring thrusting against said support, a tensioning member engaged with said spring, a bar operatively connected with said tensioning member, ratchet and pawl operating means for rotating said bar, a handle swingingly mounted for operating said ratchet and pawl device, and means for exerting thrust against said bar.

2. A ball forming machine including two forming members, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a support for said movable memher, a spring thrusting against said support, a tensioning member engaged with said spring, a bar operatively connected with said tensioning member, ratchet teeth formed on said bar, a head mounted for oscillating movement on said bar, pawls supported by said head, a pawl actuating member to engage either of said pawls with said teeth or to free them from said teeth, means for imparting swinging movement to said head, and means for exerting thrust against said bar.

3. A ball forming machine including a frame with a bearing therein, a ball forming member, supporting mechanism therefor mounted in said bearing and including a tensioning mechanism for application of force to said member and a tensioning bar to vary said tension, a cage secured to the end of said bearing, a tensioning device located in said cage and operatively connected with said bar, a lever pivotally mounted on said cage and engaged with said bar to apply pressure thereto, a positioning rod connected with a member of said supporting mechanism, and a positioning wheel mounted on said cage and operatively engaged with said positioning rod.

4. A ball forming machine including two forming members, one of which is movable toward and from the other, a movably mounted support to which said movable member is secured, a slidably mounted bar extending axially into said support, a spring interposed between said bar and support and surrounding the bar within the support to permit separation of said members under abnormal force therebetween, a tensioning seat for said spring adjustable on the bar and means independent of said spring for applying a yielding force to said bar.

5. A ball forming machine including a frame having a bearing thereon, a hollow support slidably mounted in said bearing, a ball forming member secured to said support, a spring seated in said support to permit movement of said member under abnormal force supplied thereto, a tensioning member for the spring slidably mounted in the support in engagement with the spring, a bar screw threadedly engaging said tensioning member axially thereof, means associated with said bar and depending therefrom for rotating said bar for tensioning purposes, and means for applying pressure to the end of said bar for transmission to said ball forming member.

6. The combination in a ball forming machine including supporting mechanism for a ball forming member, a grinding member cooperating with the ball forming member, a spring thrusting against the ball forming member and a bar connected with the spring to resist its thrust under abnormal force applied between said members, of a rod extending through the supporting mechanism and connected therewith for adjustably positioning said supporting mechanism with respect to the grinding member, means for moving said rod and means for applying force to said bar.

7. The combination in a ball forming machine including supporting mechanism for a ball forming member, a grinding member cooperating with the ball forming member, a spring thrusting against the ball forming member and a bar connected with said spring to resist its thrust, of a rod passing through said bar and connected with the supporting mechanism for adjustably positioning said mechanism with respect to the grinding member, means for moving said rod and means for applying force to the end of said bar.

8. The combination in a ball forming machine including supporting mechanism for a ball forming member, a grinding member cooperating with the ball forming member, a spring thrusting against the ball forming member and a bar connected with said spring to resist its force, of a lever to apply force to said bar, a rod slidably extending through said bar and connected with the supporting mechanism to adjustably position said mechanism with respect to said grinding member and means for operating said rod.

9. A ball forming machine including a frame with a bearing therein, a ball forming member, supporting mechanism therefor mounted in said bearing and including yielding tensioning mechanism, a positioning rod extending axially through the tensioning mechanism and secured to the ball forming member, a cage secured to the end of said bearing, and a positioning wheel mounted on said cage and engaged with said rod to position said supporting mechanism.

GEORGE FRANKLYN MATTESON. 

